Hotel Room Windows Facing a Concrete Wall

We had similar in New York last time we were there. We’d originally booked a hotel in Queens, right by the river and every room had a view of Manhattan. Had a call a week or two before saying it had closed for refurbishment so had been allocated another hotel, what we were offered wasn’t comparable so we were then ‘upgraded’ to one called Skyline (which was dodgy as fuck, one floor was a heavily guarded homeless shelter).
No view of the skyline though, we were at the back of the hotel and all we saw was a white brick wall.

Which hotel are you in?

But yes, get out, especially today as the weather is really nice. Get the electric tram to Laxey and then up the mountain and watch the motorbike races.

Or the steam train to Port Erin and have a wine at the Foraging Vintner and stay for the sunset.

I do get the disappointment though after spending 5 days in Port del Soller in Mallorca with a view of a wall 4 foot away - I was seething as DH had turned down my suggestion of a balcony room with a view on the grounds that all the rooms are bound to have a view. No, they bloody didn't.

That's a shame, because the IoM has fantastic views! But Douglas is pretty built up, so unless you're in a hotel on the front, with a room at the front I can imagine the views aren't great!

Don't let it spoil your trip. Get out there! There's so much to do on the island.

Have you been to Port Erin? And the manx electric railway has the best views!

It’s exactly the sort of useful thing people do say on tripadvisor. ‘Rooms 211 to 215 have a view of the bins and are very noisy at 5am when the bin lorries arrive’.

Can't you just turn the light on?

Ha! Our hotel on a trip to NYC last year was so close to the next door building we could have easily climbed out of the window and on to their fire escape.

It didn't really bother us as we were only really there early morning and at night to sleep.

YABU. I’ve never even seen a window mentioned in a description of the room, it’s not listed as an amenity. So there’s not necessarily a guarantee of a window at all. Many hotels have basement rooms without windows, or rooms with a window but the view or is over a grimy internal service courtyard or part of the roof covered in pigeon debris.

Your room hasn’t been mis-sold unless it promised a particular view. As you have booked it for 5 nights, presumably you are actually planning to be going out and doing things most of the time, not sitting in your hotel room? For the same reason, I always wonder why people pay a premium for a sea view, when they are only going to look out of it in the morning while they get ready for their day out, and thereafter have no use from it at all.

I'd be surprised if you could get a refund on this basis

I don't think the hotel has done anything wrong. Unless they advertised a view, and you booked on that basis, they have given you a functional, clean (I presume) room with the facilities you booked in mind

Also , judging by responses on this thread, it isn't that much of an undesirable feature, many (myself included) wouldn't really care that much so I don't think its something the hotel needs to mention when booking

Don't let it spoil your holiday though, how long were you really going to spend looking out of the window anyway? Go outside and enjoy the views. Come inside and close the curtains and be cosy. I only stay at budget hotels so usually have views of walls and bins and carparks but I can't think why I'd spend anytime at all looking out of the window. Maybe to briefly check if it's raining but I'd check the forecast on my phone anyway. If you're in the hotel room you're mostly sleeping, watching TV or in the bathroom aren't you? Surely most of your time is going to be outside?

Can't you just do what normal grown ups do, laugh about it and crack on with your day?
Or have you specifically travelled there to sit in your hotel room and look out the window?

Wouldn't bother me at all as for me a hotel room is to sleep and change in, not for sitting in and gazing out of a window.

Did you specify you wanted a scenic view when you booked?

To "warn others" of what exactly? That the hotel fulfilled it's contractual obligations?

It happens. This is the “lovely” view from my hotel in Canada.

This happened to me on a ski trip. It was disappointing, but hardly the end of the world unless you had specifically paid for a view. By all means raise it where you can to get a room change and mention it on post holiday reviews, but do try to be proportionate about it.

This is very common. Some places even have a false window with no natural light whatsoever. You aren't being sold a view or light, you're being sold a room so you're very unlikely to get a refund unfortunately.

It's not petty. It's allowing others to do their "due diligence". If it's factually correct then there is no problem.

But that's exactly what Trip Advisor is for - warning potential travellers about the negatives as well as the positives of a destination/accommodation/attraction. There's even a special tool for room selection tips!

If OP had known about the window situation she would have booked elsewhere.

I don't think you can do anything about the room apart from requesting a change, which you have done.
However with regards to getting a response you could contact Booking.com direct and explain that you can't contact the hotelier.
I had to do that once and they were very helpful.

I understand why you're frustrated and disappointed; it's not (mainly) the lack of a "nice view", but the close proximity to another taller building that cuts out most of your expected outside light. That's not unusual in very dense urban areas, and I think it's pretty normal for hotels to treat a room with a window into nowhere just like one with an unobscured window. I'm not surprised the hotel didn't mention it on the listing, but I am surprised no one mentioned it in reviews.

I'd just keep on pushing to change rooms - but check when a person will be on site at the facility. It may be only a few hours a day on weekdays. Explain the situation to them and ask to switch - they may still say no, nothing available, but it's kind of a step in the process you need to go through. On a four day booking, they might also say nothing available today but you can switch tomorrow.

Purely anecdotal: I've had booking.com help me a few times when the hotel or room was not as described but the hotel wouldn't help. In one case they called the hotel and got me a room change (and an apology, which I didn't need!) after the hotel refused, in another case the hotel simply didn't have the facilities they advertised so no switch possible, but booking.com comped me the cost of the night. It's worth trying if you've already tried a responsible person face to face at the hotel and they still won't help. If you have "Genius" (loyalty) status with booking.com, look for the number to call to get straight through to live help.

What a nasty thing to do! Do your due diligence if it's that big a deal, don't be petty to try to harm someone's business just because you've decided to be completely unreasonable

When you are a solo traveller on a package you often pay a single suppliment and still get the shittiest room in the hotel. And that means the one opposite a blank wall. Being ripped off like that was one of the reasons I began to travel independently. I admit I never visit real touristy destinations and often arrive at some weird am hour. For the first night |I just fall into whatever bed I am shown. Next day I visit reception and ask politely to be shown what empty rooms they have. I have aways ended up with an upgrade to a much better room and at no greater expense. A hotel that has vacancies does not want you going off elsewhere (which you are free to do as an independent). You can usually negotiate a deal.

They don’t have to mention what the view is.

.

Once arrived a a hotel for a week with work to find the slanting carpark on a hill was directly opposite my room, and I was there for a week.

So anyone getting in or out of their car looked directly in at me, and seemingly walked right to me, it was awful.

Rang down to reception, to ask if I could be moved, and they said yes of course, and moved me across and up the hotel to a room looking out to sea.

Unfortunately it was a stormy sea of scary looking waves all week, so I didn’t look out, but at least I didn’t car headlights and people looking in the room all week.